


Snow on Ember Island

by HufflepuffChildOfApollo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ember Island (Avatar), Fluff, Gen, Half these folks haven't even HEARD of snowball fights, Katara and Sokka are Homesick, Minor Aang/Katara, Minor Mai/Zuko, Minor Sokka/Suki, Post-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Snow, Snowball Fight, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffChildOfApollo/pseuds/HufflepuffChildOfApollo
Summary: The Gaang find out half of their friends have never participated in a snowball fight; Sokka insists they must remedy this. Only one problem: there's no snow on the ground.But Katara has that covered.Let the chaos begin.
Relationships: Iroh & The Gaang (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 314





	Snow on Ember Island

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first try at an Avatar fic, and I just finished the show for the first time on Thursday, so please let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is welcome!

Ember Island wasn't Aang's favorite place in the world, but when Zuko (or more likely, Zuko's uncle Iroh) had invited him, Toph, Katara, and Sokka to spend a couple of weeks while Zuko took some time off from his (apparently very stressful) political duties, he wasn't going to say _no._ He still had firebending techniques to learn. Sokka had jumped at the invitation; he had a whole scroll full of new jokes (or, as he referred to them, 'roasts') for the young Firelord. This worried Aang, but he had refrained from killing Sokka's happiness. 

So on a morning that _should_ have been cold, but in the warm climate of the Fire Nation was mildly chilly, Appa landed on the beach, carrying the five friends. Iroh and Zuko stood on the beach, waiting. Zuko looked somewhat grouchy (par for the course) and Iroh looked like his usual cheerful self. And right behind them —

"SUKI!" Sokka leapt off the bison, and landed sprawling in the sand. Katara and Aang shared an amused glance. 

"I guess _we'll_ be unloading the baggage," Toph complained. "He hit the ground so hard, he caused an Appa-quake." 

"Sokka," Suki said, pulling her red-faced boyfriend out of the sand and brushing him off. "I missed you too, but you don't have to hurt yourself over it." 

"Welcome back to Ember Island," Iroh said genially. "We're very happy to have you!"

"It's great to see you guys!" Aang said, climbing down from Appa. "How's Firelord-ing going, Zuko?"

"It's going. Good to see you, Aang." Zuko's lips tilted upward at the corners. Slightly. 

_Oh yeah,_ Aang thought. _Note to self: get Zuko to smile. He looks too serious._

"Hey! Is anyone else going to help me unpack this thing?" Toph called from Appa's saddle. Katara had gotten hers and Sokka's bags, and was making friendly conversation with Suki. 

"I'll help," Aang volunteered, kicking up a gust of wind to propel himself into Appa's back. 

" _Finally,_ " Toph grumbled. 

***

Two days later the group sat out on the deck behind the house, chatting over warm cups of jasmine tea Iroh had prepared. Suki and Sokka were practically sharing one seat, and Zuko was perpetually cringing as Sokka related some story or another to him. Katara thought her eyes might roll out of her head if he made one more crack about her cooking. 

"Hey, did someone lose a lemur?"

A chipper voice made every head turn to the doorway. They all froze that way.

"Mai!" Zuko exclaimed, standing. "I thought your family were still in Omashu." 

"They were." Mai walked over. "But Iroh said you were taking a break, so I figured I should too." She looked around the small group. 

"Hang on, if you're _here_ , who has Momo?" Aang asked. 

The answer came walking in on her hands, Momo balanced atop her feet. 

"Hello!" Ty Lee chirped. Momo scrambled to the floor as she vaulted into the air, doing several somersaults and landing gracefully on her feet. 

"Ty Lee!" Suki stood; Sokka sulked as she walked over to greet her fellow Kyoshi warrior. 

"Suki!" she exclaimed, tugging the other girl into a hug. "And Zuko!" she added, grinning over Suki's shoulder. "Your aura is very pink today!" 

"Um...thanks." Zuko shuffled his feet. "Why don't you guys sit down?"

"I'll make some more tea," Iroh offered, picking up his empty teapot. 

"Thank you." Mai sat down in an empty seat; Zuko joined her, sitting even closer than Sokka had been to Suki. 

"Aren't they adorable, Katara?" Aang asked quietly, laying his head on Katara's shoulder. Sokka was less subtle.

"Aww, our little Zukie's got a girlfriend!" he exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you, Zuko!" 

"You _knew_ I had a girlfriend!" Zuko grumbled, flicking a small fireball at Sokka's head. Sokka ducked, and the fireball hit Toph instead, a small flame catching on her hair; Zuko's glare shifted immediately to an _'oh-shit'_ expression. 

"Uhh, Toph, your head's on fire," Aang said. 

"WHAT?" 

"Here, let me get it." Katara moved to put out the flames with her bending; Zuko beat her to it, dumping a cup of tea on her head. 

Katara was pretty sure the screech that followed loosened a few of her teeth. 

When the house stopped shaking and the dust settled, everyone's eyes were on Zuko. 

"Smooth," Sokka quipped, just before a spark landed on his hair. "Ah, ah, AHH!"

" _Zuko._ "

***

The chilly night air didn't stop the gang (or the Gaang, as Sokka sometimes referred to them in his head) from enjoying the night air and a warm bonfire, courtesy of Zuko's firebending. 

"Hang on, you did _what_ as kids?" Katara exclaimed. 

" _Azula_ liked to play a _fun_ little game called 'who can dodge the flames faster?'," Zuko said, poking at the fire with a stick (even though he didn't need to). 

"Gee. We just had snowball fights," Sokka said. 

Mai, Zuko, and Ty Lee all looked at him, puzzled; Toph frowned. 

" _Snowball fights?"_ Mai asked, as if unsure she'd heard him right. "You mean, throwing hunks of ice at each other?"

Sokka stared at her before bursting out laughing. "Mai, you're so funny sometimes! Don't tell me you guys have _never_ had a snowball fight?"

The Flame-os (as Sokka referred to them in his head) were so silent you could hear cricketmoths in the distance. 

"We grew up in the Fire Nation," Zuko said. "In case you didn't notice, we don't get a lot of snow."

"You guys are missing out _big time,_ " Sokka said. "Katara and I had snow fights all the time — that is, before dad left and _I_ had to take over as man of the house." He puffed out his chest. 

"A job that entailed _what,_ exactly?" Katara snarked. 

"I've never had a snowball fight either," Toph said. "My parents never let me out of the house when it was snowing." 

"I didn't either — we did a lot of air tricks, but snow fights were kind of a no-no," Aang said. 

Sokka just stared at them all, dumbstruck. 

"Katara, dear sister, may I talk to you for a moment?" 

***

 _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ Katara thought as she stood on the shore, lifting the water into the air, until a giant bubble of it floated above, casting a wobbly shadow over 50 square feet of the beach. 

"Alright, everyone, stand back," she cautioned. "I've never done this before."

"You can do it, Katara!" Sokka gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Aang, standing on the other side of the beach and helping Katara hold up the water, grinned. 

"Ready?" he called.

"Set!" Katara answered. 

"SNOW!" they called in unison. The water bubble exploded, every drop freezing into a cluster of perfect white crystals, covering the beach I a blanket of snow. 

"I can't believe that worked!" Aang shouted triumphantly. Sokka whooped, grabbing Zuko's arm. 

"Come on, fireboy!" he shouted, dragging the bemused teen headfirst into a snowdrift as big as Appa.

Wait. Maybe that was Appa. 

"Oops! Sorry, Appa!" Sokka emerged from the pile of snow. Zuko crawled out after him. 

"So, you made snow. Big deal," Mai said. "What are we supposed to do now?" 

"Well, none of you have had a snowball fight, so..." Katara looked around. "Free-for-all or teams?"

***

"Alright. Katara, you can take Mai, Ty Lee and Toph," Sokka dictated. "I'll take Suki, Zuko and Aang."

Katara frowned. "How come _you_ get Aang?"

"You're a bender, so you already have an unfair advantage," Sokka pointed out. "I'm leveling the playing field."

"I want Mai on our team," Zuko broke in. "She's good at throwing stuff."

"Kyoshi warriors should stick together. I want Ty Lee," Suki said. 

"I want to be on Sokka's team," Toph grumbled. 

Katara stared at her former teammates, her eye twitching. 

"Fine!" she snapped. "I can take you all. But no melting," she added, pointing at Zuko. 

"Fine." The firebender crossed his arms. "I won't need to."

"Great! Now that's settled," Sokka clapped his hands, grinning diabolically. "Let's play ball."

Cricketmoths. 

Katara rolled her eyes, walking to her end of the playing field.

"Is there a points system, or is it to the death?" she heard Toph ask as she walked away; Katara cringed. 

_Maybe this was a bad idea._

_***_

"Alright, here's the plan!"

Sokka had drawn out a rough diagram of the snowfield in the snow. Team Sokka (as he insisted on calling them) were huddled around the sketch, trying to make sense of the lines he'd drawn. 

"Suki, you'll run out to Katara's side, Ty Lee will need your help for her part." He pointed with a stick to a sloppy-looking circle at one end of the diagram. "Aang, you'll fly overhead, and drop snowbombs from above. Ty Lee, try and sneak in and disarm Katara with your chi-blocking thing." 

"I'll certainly Try-lee!" she chirped. Everyone but Sokka cringed. 

"That's the spirit! Now, Toph, you'll stand in the field and make obstacles. Katara didn't say no earthbending, so it's not against the rules. I'll be standing guard. Mai, you'll run ahead and distract Katara so Zuko can do his job."

"And what _is_ my job?" Zuko asked. 

Sokka grinned. "You'll be infiltrating Katara's fortress to steal her flag. Once you have it, signal Aang. He'll fly you back to base." He looked around. "If any of you get hit, go wait on the sidelines until I give the signal."

"Sounds like a plan! " Aang said. "I wonder what Katara's strategy is..."

***

Katara stood atop a pile of snow, watching. Calculating. Her flag planted between her feet. 

Sokka would never get it. 

From the corner of her eye she spotted Aang, flying low over the field. Biting her tongue, she scooped up a handful of snow and hurled it at him. 

Judging by the loud "OOF!" she heard, she had hit her target.

A clump of snow exploded at her feet, followed by more; Mai ran out in front of her, a line of snowballs balanced on her arm. 

_She's a distraction._

Katara threw up an ice shield on Mai's side, then whirled around in time to catch Ty Lee vaulting off Suki's shoulders, then somersault through the air towards Katara. Before she could strike, Katara launched a volley of snowballs, knocking the acrobat off-balance. She finished Suki off too, and Suki dulled over to the sidelines, where Aang had started carving a snow castle. 

Katara could see Toph standing in the middle of the field. Sokka would be the only one left at the base. Katara buried the flag in snow, and raced off to the other end of the field, redirecting Mai's attacks. 

Toph was doing _something,_ but before she could finish Katara sent a wave of snow her way, burying her neck-deep. 

"No fair!" Toph protested. 

Katara reached Sokka's base and found her brother lounging comfortably in a pile of snow, snowballs stacked in pyramids around him. When he saw her, his eyes bugged out. 

" _Katara?_ No! My plan should have worked!" he whined. 

"You're having a _snow fight_ against a _waterbender,_ " she replied. "What made you think you'd win?"

Sokka eyes suddenly grew wide. "That!" he threw his boomerang in the air, pointing behind Katara. 

Katara spun around. Suki, Aang, Toph, Mai and Ty Lee had her surrounded. Before she knew it, she was hit by a barrage of snowballs from all sides. By the time it let up, she was on the ground, nearly buried in snow.

Sokka smirked. "Bested!" 

"You still need my flag," Katara corrected. 

"And we have it!" 

Zuko strode over, her flag clutched in his hand. With his intense expression, and snow clinging all over him, he looked ridiculous. 

"Here, Sokka." He handed her brother the flag. Sokka grinned, smugly strolling over to where his flag was planted. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us remember this victory!" he said dramatically, raising the flag in the air; as he bent to place it in the ground, Katara flicked her hand. A wave of snow hit him in the butt, knocking him on his face. Katara smirked as Sokka's teammates — even _Mai_ — laughed. 

Sokka may have beaten her, but Katara had just _won_. 

***

Aang proposed they celebrate their victory with a bonfire singing session. Mai had declined, turning in early, and Zuko had made to follow suit, but Iroh had insisted he accompany them; so Zuko now sat, squished between Sokka and Toph, Appa laying right behind him, listening while Aang demonstrated his sub-par skills on the stringed instrument he had found in one of the house's many rooms. 

"Any song requests?" Aang asked.

"I've got one," Katara said, fixing Sokka with a smirk. Sokka's expression became one of horror. 

"You _wouldn't."_

"I _would._ Aang, do you remember those nomads we met on our way to Omashu?" she asked casually. 

Aang grinned. "Oh boy, do I!" He began plucking out a tune, and Sokka groaned. Zuko listened, with no small amount of curiosity as to what could cause this reaction in _Sokka_ of all people.

" _Two lovers, forbidden from one another,_

_A war divides their people, and a mountain divides them apart._

_Built a path to be together..._ "

There was a pause, like Aang couldn't remember the words. Then, after a thumbs-up from Katara, he grinned again and started strumming wildly. 

" _SECRET TUNNEL_!" the two maniacs sang in chorus. Very, very loud chorus. Zuko covered his ears, glaring at Uncle, who seemed to be greatly enjoying the display. 

When it seemed like the noise had died down, Zuko uncovered his ears. 

"What kind of —" 

"Excellent!" Uncle interrupted. "Truly very enjoyable!" 

Katara and Aang smiled, looking _way_ too pleased with themselves. 

"We've got more!" Aang said enthusiastically. He raised his hand, about to start strumming. 

"No! No, no, no!" Sokka bolted across the circle, snatching the instrument from the Avatar's hands. "Not happening!" 

Zuko sighed in relief; then Sokka passed the instrument to Uncle. 

"I trust _t_ _his man_ to provide entertainment," he snarled, sitting down. 

Uncle looked pleasantly surprised, strumming a few notes and tuning the instrument. 

" _It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty..."_

Zuko sighed, leaning back against the giant bison and running a hand through his hair. His lack of sleep over the past weeks was beginning to catch up to him. He suppressed a yawn, looking around the small bonfire at the small group he'd come to consider as his friends. 

"Hey." Zuko looked up, finding Mai leaning down from the bison's saddle. 

"I thought you were going to bed," he said. 

"I heard shouting." She slid down Appa's side, nudging Toph aside and sitting next to Zuko. 

"Thank Aang and Katara for that," Zuko said, laying his arm over her shoulders. "Are you cold?" 

She shook her head, laying it on his shoulder. "Not now."

Sokka elbowed Zuko in the side, winking; Zuko summoned a small flame and held it threateningly close to Sokka's face. The Water Tribe boy got the hint and backed off.

"Sorry." 

Mai smiled, slipping her hand into Zuko's. They laid back, watching the fire as the last flakes of Katara's snow evaporated into the air. 

***

"It was nice seeing you, Iroh," Katara said, loading her luggage into Appa's saddle. "Thank you for the tea tips!"

"Anytime!" Iroh said, smiling. "Come back again! I'm sure my nephew will be grateful for the company."

"Oh, we'll come back!" Sokka promised. "I still have half a notebook of jokes I haven't told him yet! Speaking of which: what do you call it when Aang gets mad?"

"A miracle?" Zuko grumbled. 

Sokka smirked. "Nope. Aang-ry!"

Suki sighed. "Don't quit your day job, Sokka." She stepped forward, kissing Sokka's cheek. "Don't forget to come and visit me soon. I might give you another sparring lesson." 

"I'll be there," he said, kissing her cheek. "Just don't make me wear the dress again, alright?" 

She chuckled. "Deal."

Aang stepped up to Zuko, smiling. "Thanks for the firebending lessons, sifu hotman!" 

"Don't _ever_ call me that," Zuko said, cringing. "Your form's getting better. Keep practicing, okay? "

"Got it." Aang hugged him quickly before running to jump on Appa's back. 

"See you, hothead!" Toph called as she climbed into the bison's back. "Thanks for inviting me, Uncle Iroh!" 

"He's not your uncle," Katara reminded her. 

"Zuko can fight me for him," she said, pounding her fist into her palm. "I'll kick his—" 

"Come on, guys! Let's go!" Aang said. "Appa! Yip-yip!"

They were in the air, sailing away, when —

"Oh my Tui, we forgot Momo!" Sokka shouted. Everyone onboard sighed. 

"Alright, Appa, can you turn around? Sokka, you were supposed to be in charge of getting Momo. "

"Oh, sure, blame me! I didn't see _Katara_ doing anything —!"

"Hey! I'll have you know... "

**~** **The End~**


End file.
